Running Scared
by RenbaReieg
Summary: Bentley and Avery Harris, siblings that find themselves stumbling upon a group of survivors in Atlanta soon join the group out of pure instinct to survive. Relationships are formed, tensions rise, and these siblings don't miss a beat to take out a Walker or two. Join them on their adventures! DarylxOC MaggiexOC
1. Chapter 1 First Meeting

_**Bentley**_

Atlanta was our last hope. We sweated blood and tears to get this far; days of no sleep and endless walking. When the broadcast aired that said Atlanta was the safest city, naturally, my sister and I packed what little supplies we had and made the trek to the city. Upon reaching the border of Atlanta, I knew the minute we stepped on to the streets, something was off. For a safe zone, it was pretty deserted. Going deeper into the city, that's when I knew our luck had run out.

Bodies were in lifeless lumps everywhere, it was a horrible sight. With this many dead bodies around us, being on the ground wasn't safe. The two of us walked along the side of a building until we came to an opening of an alley. I peered around the corner and quickly spun back around. I knew it was to easy getting here not to run into anything. I reached behind me and pulled out the bat I've carried since ninth grade out of my backpack.

My sister knew immediately what was going on. I motioned her to cover my back. In the alley was a Feeder devouring some poor guy's inside. Thankfully, its back was turned toward us which allowed for an easy take down. I stood like I was up to bat and swung at the Feeder's head. Its head burst open and the thing fell against the wall. Just to make sure it was dead, I let loose a few more swings until all that was left was a pile a mush. I slung the Feeder's brain matter off my bat to keep it clean.

A shot in the distance made the two of us drop to our knees. Making noise wasn't a good idea, it only drew in more Feeders. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a fire escape. It was a perfect way to get off the ground. I swore under my breath when I couldn't reach the ladder to pull it down.

"Hey, help me move this dumpster before more Feeders come." When I got no answer, I turned around, scared. My sister was not behind me. I looked further up and saw her at the edge of the alley looking out. Multiple shots filled the air, "Get back here, now! Feeders will be all over this place!"

She looked back to me, "Bentley, we have to help them!"

I didn't like where this was heading. More gunshots went off. I stood behind her and looked over. There were about twenty Feeders closing in on two guys. Their ammo must be running low by now with all the shots we've heard. I pulled out my bat again while my sister pulled out her two knives.

"Okay Avery, here's the plan," I explained, "I'll swing at the head. If you see that the Feeder is still moving, stab it in the head. Tag team these fuckers. Then we'll get those guys, get back here and get that fire escape ladder down. Ready?"

She nodded, "I got your back. Go!"

We ran out into the open and charged the first Feeder in sight. I gave a hard swing upwards, breaking its jaw into a thousand pieces. I ran to the next one as Avery drove her knife into the Feeder's eye. This time, I swung down hard, cracking its skull open. Avery came up from behind me and kicked the thing's head, causing its brains to ooze out. We killed Feeder after Feeder until we reached the first of the two guys. He gave us his thanks, but that quickly ended when his friends called out for help. Pinned against a wall, was a boy about seventeen. His gun clicked every time he pulled the trigger, sign that he was on empty.

Avery and I ran over to him, but once we killed a Feeder, a scream came from behind us. The other guy was on the ground, crawling for his gun. A bottomless Feeder held on to his ankle while more were getting closer. Avery had killed all the Feeders surrounding the boy and the two of us quickly ran over to help the guy. I bashed the Feeder's face in and quickly helped the guy up. What we saw next, I wish I could forget. Feeders were all over the boy, biting into his arms, neck, and sides.

He fell to the ground and there was nothing left we could do. It was a feeding frenzy."Avery, we need to go, now!" I pulled the guy with us,

"Hurry to the alley!"

The guy must have finally snapped out of his trance, "That was my son you assholes! Why didn't you save my boy?!" He sprinted off down the alley.

I looked back at all the Feeders. The ones not having lunch spotted us right away. We ran down the alley, but stopped when we saw the guy get knocked off his feet by a Feeder. We had to move fast.

"Avery, c'mon! Hop on my shoulders and pull that ladder down!"

She jumped on to my shoulders and gave a quick jerk to the ladder. No good, it was stuck.

"Keep trying! The Feeders will be here any minute!"

A few more jerks and the ladder slid down with a crash. I pushed Avery up the ladder and handed her my bat so I could climb. While I was climbing, the ladder creaked when a screw came out of place. My weight on the ladder started to tip me backwards. I used all my strength to propel myself in the air. I reached out for Avery's hand and grabbed it. She pulled me up just in time before all the Feeders flooded the alley.

We stood there staring at them trying to reach us.

I looked to Avery as she handed me my bat, "We're screwed."

_**Avery**_

I didn't want to kill my brother, due to the fact that he was the only person I had left on this piece of shit planet, but he was seriously starting to piss me off. I know I screwed up when I said we needed to help those two guys, it wound up getting us spotted by all the geeks in the damn area. Not my best idea, but certainly not my worst.

Bentley and I had manouverd our way around a few buildings, taking countless fire escapes to get to different levels. Currently we were now on the side of a Shopping Mall, and there happened to be a fire escape that went all the way to the roof. I glanced at my brother for confirmation and he nodded once, telling me with a hard glare to not fuck it up and fall, my clumsiness would be the death of me...

With precaution I stealthily made my way up the fire escape, Bentley not far behind me his constant increase in pace was starting to stress me out. I know that we need to find a place to take cover but him rushing me doesn't help the situation much at all.

Once my boots hit the gravel on the top of the roof I helped him over the edge and I secured my bag before taking a step towards the exit door into the Mall, when a caught sight of a man popping some sort of pill into his mouth.

I panicked and latched my hand around Bentley's wrist, tugging him towards the ground. I crouched down behind one of the utility pipes and watched the man cautiously. He had a shaven head, and was wearing jeans and a black vest. He looked like trouble, I could tell that much from his body language.

Bentley's entire stature changed, his muscles with rigid as he prepared himself for what could happen. I could tell from watching this guy that he was a mess, I had seen his type before, in the countless fights I had managed to get myself involved in... he was trouble and we needed to avoid him like the plague.

The man then picked up a rifle off the roof and walked to the edge, adjusting his sight in the scope he then popped off a shot at a Walker down in the street. My adrenaline was pumping now, he was going to fuck this all up and get every damn geek in the city over here!

A battle of whether I should go over there and end that son-of-a-bitch or ignore him began in my head, we have to do something. I looked to my brother and he was nodding his head back towards the fire escape, he wanted to get out of here.

I sighed as I shook my head in agreement, we both began to make our way to the fire escape, but at the sound of a door slamming against concrete we both froze. There were more people here? Shit.

My eyes then drifted to the group that came barreling out of the door and over to the reckless man who had just been popping off shots at Walker's. There were six of them, a woman with Blonde hair stood beside a dark-skinned woman with short hair. A younger Chinese guy with a red and white baseball cap was standing beside a brown-haired man in a Sheriff's uniform, and then two other men; another dark-skinned man and a man with Latin descent stood behind them.

"Aye Dixon! You crazy?" The Spanish man yelled as he ran towards the guy with the rifle. I was more than tempted to get the hell out of a dodge at this point, but when I tried to get to the ladder Bentley jerked my wrist back, preventing me from moving.

I shot him a look, but he just glared at me and then faced the group of people once again. What the hell is he thinking? We need to get out of here, and if we don't get moving now we're as good as dead. Not only are the Walker's a threat to us, but we don't know these people, meaning they are a threat as well.

"Huh? Aye, you outta be more polite to a man with a gun. Uh, it's only common sense." The man called 'Dixon' chuckled, his raspy voice sending chills down my spine, as he hopped off the ledge and began to walk towards the small group.

The dark-skinned man then jumped at him, a fearful look in his eyes, "Hey! You wastin' bullet we ain't even got man, you drawin' them things to us man! Just chill!"

Dixon then took a step towards the dark-skinned man shaking his head from side to side, "Aye it's bad enough I got this taco vendor on my ass all day, now I gotta take orders from you? I don' think so bro. That'll be the day." He narrowed his eyes as he gripped the gun tighter.

This situation was giving me a bad feeling, I had been in enough bar fights to know that when testosterone gets thrown around like this a fight is bound to erupt eventually. I tried to pry my wrist out of Bentley's hold, but he wasn't letting up. If anything, his grip was tightening, preventing me from making a hasty escape.

"That'll be the day? You got something you wanna tell me?" The dark-skinned man reiterated what Dixon had said in confusion, I really didn't like where this situation was going. We needed to leave, now. Shit was about to hit the fan, I didn't want to be in the splash zone.

"Aye, T-dog man, just leave it. It ain't worth it, now Merle just relax." The Spanish man said, trying to keep the peace. I didn't know these people and yet I seemed to know more about this Merle Dixon character than he did. He clearly was a racist and trash. Anyone can see that, so why are they allowing him in their group? He isn't the kind of guy you want to be around when the world's in the toilet like it is now.

Merle smirked and ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he eyed T-dog, "Ya wanna know the day? I'll tell ya the day mister 'yo', it's the day I take orders from a Nigger."

And then all hell brook loose, much like I had anticipated it to do. T-dog yelled something and then swung on Merle, his fist connecting with his jaw. Everyone then sprung at the two men, preventing them from doing any other damage, it was a failed attempt. Merle then punched T-dog in the face, not long after he sent a kick to his stomach.

The Sheriff tried to stop the fight, but all that did was earning himself a punch in the face. The blonde haired woman screamed as she watched the men fight. Bentley then sprung away from me, running to the altercation. I cursed under my breath as I followed after him, I knew he was going to do something like this, he can't help himself..

Merle had now gotten T-dog on the ground and he was straddling him, with a gun pointed at his face. The blonde haired woman was screaming still, and if she didn't shut her mouth I would shit it for her. Bentley then tackled Merle to the ground, knocking the gun out of his hand. The Sheriff scrambled over to my brother and the crazed man and handcuffed him to one of the utility pipes.

My hand was resting on my knife that was attached to my belt as I watched the Sheriff interacting with Merle, my brother stood beside him, watching closely. The rest of the group was silent, the only sound's on the roof was the booming of thunder and the heavy breathing. This was not a situation that I thought Bentley and I would find ourselves in...

The Sheriff then stood up and stuck his hand out to my brother, asking for a handshake? The hell? My brother watched in amusement as he shook his hand and then sent him a friendly smile. My brother was good with people, a skill that I had once envied, but that was when people populated the planet, not flesh-eating creatures...

"Thank you, for that." The Sheriff directed his statement to my brother, but his eyes were on Merle as he groaned and looked around trying to figure out what had just happened. I could feel the rest of the group's eyes on me and it was making me uneasy. My jaw clenched when I realized that my brother and I were severely outnumbered... I needed to think of a strategy and fast. Who to kill first? How to kill them first?

The blonde haired woman, I could shove her off the roof, take out the dark-skinned woman with my knife... the Sheriff had skills... Bentley could take him though..

"Is today just gather at the damn mall day or what? Who the hell are you?!" The woman with the blonde hair shouted at my brother and I, but her eyes were glued on me. She was smart, knowing full well that she couldn't take on my brother, but then again she didn't no shit about what I could do to her.

I turned my head and watched as she walked over to me, studying me intently. "People in the wrong place, at the wrong time." I said with a bite to my tone, I wasn't in the mood to deal with pissy people today. Bentley just had to fuck all this up by running over here, if he just would have let me lead we could have already been out of this mess.

"What my sister means is, we were running and happened to turn up on this roof. When we got here, wise guy over here was the only one on the roof. Then you all came out here like bats outta hell and we didn't know what to do." Bentley added, trying to diffuse the tension. He walked over and stood beside me, his presence telling me to calm down before I caused an issue.

The Spanish man walked over and smiled warmly at my brother and I, "My name is Morales, the spitfire blonde here is Andrea. Thank you, for helping with Merle." Morales directed his statement to my brother, considering I had done nothing at all to help with Merle...

The dark-skinned woman approached us as well, "My name is Jacqui."

I rose an eyebrow at how soft her tone of voice was, she certainly wasn't cut out for the apocalypse, that's for sure. Actually, looking at everyone here they all look like they are completely out of their element. My money would be on Merle to be the sole survivor.

The Chinese guy then walked over and anxiously looked my brother and I over before introducing himself, "My name's Glenn."

A sigh escaped me when my brother began to introduce himself to the group, if he is trying to get us to join forces with these people he has lost his damn mind. These people wouldn't know how to survive if their lives depended on it, which they do so you can see my point. They don't know my brother and I, and they're just opening up to us. Not a good idea, at all.

"My name's Bentley, and this is my sister Avery. We've been on our own for a while now, and if you'd be willing to... let us into your group we could both benefit from it. We'd earn our keep and everything." My brother was using his impeccable social skills to try and win these people over, something he was great at.

I, however, chose to remain silent and just watch how they acted around my brother. If they gave me any bad vibes then we were out of here, I don't know what's going through my brother's head at the moment, but I don't like it.

My eyes kept wondering to the Sheriff, who wasn't saying a word. He didn't seem very comfortable with these people and that stuck an interest. Why would he feel that way... unless he was new himself? Is that what Andrea meant when she said earlier, about the gathering at the mall thing? This group needs a serious reality check.

Morales nodded and then glanced at his fellow group members, "I'm sure we have enough room..."

They were silent, well all of them except Merle who was going on about something. The Sheriff walked over and crouched down so he was eye level and then began to search his pockets when he pulled something out of his pocket that I couldn't quite name. He then tilted Merle's head back and looked at his nose in disgust, "You've got some on your nose." He muttered as he stood up.

Merle chuckled, "What're you gonna do, arrest me?"

The Sheriff then threw whatever it was over the side of the building as he began to unload the silver handgun that Merle had just threatened T-dog with moments before. "HEY! That's my stuff! You better pray that when I get out of these that it ain't ever jus' you and me buddy!" Merle yelled.

The Sheriff then crouched down and pressed the gun to Merle's temple, "You outta be more polite to a man with a gun, it's only common sense." He muttered as he stood once more walking away from the group, over to the edge of the building.

Morales followed, leaving Bentley and I to stand with the rest of the people who had formed a small group around us. I was silently cursing my brother for putting us in this situation, this was a terrible idea on his part. We were better on our own.

"Are you guys camped here, in the city?" Bentley asked Andrea as he followed her over to the other ledge. I was torn on whether I should follow, but I opted to stay put, my hand never leaving my knife handle. I was extremely uncomfortable..

Andrea shook her head from side to side, "No, we have a place outside the city. We came here looking for supplies, and then that plan went to shit... I don't know what we're gonna do."

I watched as T-dog pulled a walkie-talkie out of a black bag that was laying beside him, a walkie-talkie? Wow, maybe this group was put together better than I had thought. That makes me all the more nervous, if Bentley thinks we can just stroll up in there without causing an issue he is sadly mistaken.

"How's our signal?" Morales asked T-dog.

He let out a laugh as the walkie talkie made some odd buzzing sound, "Like Dixon's brain,_ weak_."

Merle gave T-dog the finger while Andrea and Morales bickered about how their group wouldn't be able to save them, that they were on their own. Well, join the club Andrea, we've been on our own since this whole thing started and we've managed to make it.

The Sheriff noticed I was standing by myself and he casually walked over to me, taking the spot that my brother had just been standing moments before. "You don't seem to say much." He noted as he gave me a sideways glance, he clearly was skeptical of me... good to know.

I nodded in conformation, "I'm a woman of few words."

He chuckled at that statement and crossed his arms over his chest, "My name's Rick, by the way. I haven't really introduced myself yet... I'm new as well, Glenn just saved my ass from Walker's."

Glenn? The skinny, nerdy, weak Chinese guy? He saved Rick, the Sheriff, from Walker's? That's certainly a shock, maybe I underestimated the ability of this group. With that idea floating in my mind it made me even more on edge. Especially since Bentley is so far away from me...

"The streets aren't safe, there's no way we can get out of here using them." Rick said as he walked over to Morales and my brother.

Bentley nodded, "What about under the streets? Like the sewers?"

My jaw clenched at the fact that he was actually talking to these people, and not only that but he was conspiring with them. What is wrong with him? We aren't going anywhere with these people, there's no point in him getting attached.

"Oh man! Hey Glenn, check the alley, you see any manhole covers?" Morales instructed Glenn as he began to head in the direction of the alley. This was a just a terrible day, at the rate it's going I wouldn't be surprised if I wind up getting eaten later..

"No, they must be all out on the street where the geeks are." Glenn confirmed as he ran back over to the group.

Jacqui then spoke up, her soft voice sounding quite odd to me at this moment, "Maybe not. Old buildings like this built-in the '20's often had drainage tunnels built-in the sewers in case of flooding, down in the sub-basements."

"And how do you know that?" I asked in slight annoyance, if she was suggesting we go into the basements and travel through the sewers I needed to make sure she knew what she was talking about.

"It's my job, well it was, I worked in the cities zoning office." She answered me, her voice full of confidence and assurance. Well as long as she knew what she was talking about, because clearly no one else did...

_**Bentley**_

Ever since the world had gone to shit, I finally feel as if something is going in the right direction for Avery and I. From the various facial expressions I was receiving from my sister, it was obvious she was not happy with my decision to interact with these people. On the way down to the sub-basement of the department store, the two of us had a...family bicker.

"Let up Avery," My eyes were watching her, "There is nothing wrong with them. When we get out of here, and they do decide to take us in, we'd be in a good place."

Her face was blank and motionless. What was with her? Does she seriously think that if it's just the two of us, we'll survive a lot longer? Only God knows I don't. What if something was to happen to me when I went out scouting and I never returned? She wouldn't know what to do without me. Of course I know she can handle herself, but for how long on her own? "Listen, let's just go for the night. Then you can decide on what to do. Okay?"

I could tell she was processing that since he right eyebrow twitched. Avery gave slow, but surely nodded. That's my sister for you, all it takes is a little bribing or reasoning, and she's off for it-well, most of the time. We stopped behind everyone when they stood around the railing of an opening in the floor. Morales, I think that was his name, asked if that was it and Glenn, said that he had checked and it was the only way to go down. Glenn added, "'Sept I never went down it. Who'd want to, right?"

We all looked at Glenn. By his facial expression, he knew that he was the one to go down it.

Then Andrea spoke up, "I'll go right behind you."

"No, you won't. Not you." Glenn snapped.

"Why not me? You think I can't?"

This wasn't the time for an other argument. I was about to see something when Rick asked Glenn to speak his mind. "Until now, I came here by myself; in and out, grab a few things. No problem."

Did he have an issue?

"First time I bring a group, it all goes to hell. No offense." This was getting nerve-racking. How hard is it to pick two people to go down? It was just that Glenn kept running his mouth, "If you want me to go down this smelly hole, fine. But only if we do it my way."

They all looked at each other. I was getting a little annoyed by how long they were taking. All most out of no where, Glenn just started barking orders, "If I run into something down there, I'm gonna have to get out quick. I don't want you all getting me killed." I get the feeling he isn't talking to us. Avery stood there, not saying a word. "I'll take one person," Rick started to move, "Not you. You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you're out in the store, covering our ass." Glenn pointed to Andrea, "You've got the only other gun, you should go with him."

He made Morales his wing man and told Jaqui to stay behind so if anything happened, Glenn and Morales could get back up here. I wasn't expecting what happened next. Glenn turned and pointed at us, "You two!" Both of us jumped, I didn't think he wanted us to get involved since they were basically ignoring us, guess not, "Go with Rick and Andrea. You guys some to be good with fighting up close. If them geeks somehow get it, let's hope they don't, you guys can at least hold them off."

Avery was about to protest, but I quickly put my hand over her mouth so that I could answer, "Yeah, we'll be right on it."

Rick spoke up and patted Glenn on the shoulder, "Okay. Everyone knows their jobs."

We went up to the railing and watch Glenn climb down the ladder with Morales right behind. Once the two of them disappeared into the sewer, the four of us walked back upstairs. Walking through the racks of clothes, I could hear the moans of the dead coming from the front entrance. I pulled out my bat when I saw how many of the Feeders or Walkers according to Rick and them. That had a nice ring to it- were trying to get in. "Look at them all." Avery drew a knife when she saw them finally. Andrea gave a worried look to the door.

"Sorry about the gun to the face." She told Rick.

"People do things when they're afraid."

"Not that it wasn't entirely unjustified. You did get us into this."

I butted in, "Now don't pull that." That ticked me off., "Ever since the world got fucked, no one is at blame for anything anymore."

Andrea and Rick both nodded, but Rick still defended himself, "If I get us out, would that make up for it?"

"Well...that would be a start." They smiled at each other. Did anything I just said stick into their minds? I looked at Avery. She was watching the entrance with sharp eyes. I wish she would just let up a little, that door looked totally safe. The Walkers were all over the door, that's when I started to doubt it. All that force against the glass, what if it just shatter? Then we're fucked. Rick and Andrea shared a casually conversation about their guns. I tried to mess around with Avery, she must hate me on the inside. Nothing I did seemed to work, so I watched Rick show Andrea how to remove the safety from her gun.

Instead of just sitting around, I walked over to Rick and Andrea, who were staring at a mermaid necklace. "Do you like mermaids or something?"

Andrea continued to stare at it, "Not me, but I know someone who would." She looked at the two of us, "My sister. She's still such a kid in someway." I motioned for Avery to come over, of course she slowly made her way over, "Unicorns, dragons, she's into all that stuff. But mermaids, they rule, she loves mermaids."

I smiled at the thought of Andrea thinking of her sister at a time like this. Avery placed her hand on my shoulder, "Why not take it?" I about doubled over, where did my stern, speechless sister go?

"There's a cop staring at me." She eyed Rick, "Would it be considered looting?"

"Don't think those rules apply anymore. Do you?" She smiled and tucked the necklace into her pocket.

Avery stood next to Andrea, "Family is important, especially sib-" The sound of glass breaking made us all turn towards the entrance. Two of the Walkers smashed the glass with blocks, could they do that? What was worse now was that glass doors stood between us and the Walkers. More and more were piling in. Rick held up his gun and then they others came back. "What did you find down there?"

Morales shook his head, "Not a way out." Great, just great. Avery and I exchanged looks.

"Then we need to find a way." I said from the back, "Soon."

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And there is chapter one! Let us know what you guys think! Brandon writes in Bentley's POV, while I, Sasha, writes in Avery's POV, hence the difference in writing styles! :D


	2. Chapter 2 You Just Gotta Blend

_**Avery**_

"That construction site, with those trucks... they always keep keys on hand." Rick said as he handed his binoculars over to Morales.

We were now on the roof, since the Walkers had managed to break through one of the glass doors it was only a matter of time before they broke through the other one and I didn't want to be down there when it happened. So, we made our way to the roof so we could try to figure another way out of this hell hole.

"We'll never make it past those walkers.." Morales said with a sigh.

Rick rose an eyebrow as he glanced at Glenn, "You got me out of that tank."

"Yeah but they were feeding, they were distracted." Glenn argued.

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest, these people were hopeless. We obviously just need to send one maybe two people over to the construction site not the group. The distraction part... we didn't necessarily need to distract them, no, we needed to blend not distract.

"Could we distract them again?" Rick asked.

"Right! Listen to him, he's on to something. A diversion, like on Hogan's hero." Merle piped up sarcastically, his lounged state showed that he was content with where he was at the moment.

Anger flared inside of me at the sight of him, he was getting on my last nerve. "If you're not going to be helpful, shut the hell up!" I snapped at him, my temper getting the better of me. It's not one of my better qualities, but I've always been very temperamental.

"They're drawn by sound, right?" Rick asked, completely ignoring the bickering between Merle and myself.

Glenn nodded, "Right, like dogs. They hear sound they come."

"What else?"

"It's pretty simple, they see you, hear you, smell you and then catch you and eat you." My brother said as he rose an eyebrow in confusion, why was this Sheriff so clueless? Did he just wake up this morning or something? God damn.

"They can tell us by smell?" Rick questioned.

"Can't you?!" Glenn said loudly.

I groaned and ran my hands over my face, "Look _Sheriff_, its pretty damn easy to understand. They smell dead, we don't. They want to eat us, therefore they can distinguish our scent. We're like walking fucking KFC's for these bitches, and they don't hesitate."

Bentley elbowed me in the side telling me to shut my mouth before I messed things up with the group, but I couldn't help myself. This Sheriff was totally oblivious to everything around him, which completely blows my mind due to the fact that he has lived like this since all of this shit started months ago.

"What my sister _means_ to say is that the difference in smell is pretty distinct." Bentley added as he glared at me.

I let out a laugh, "Yeah so the only way you're getting past those assholes is by covering yourself in their guts."

Now, I was being completely and totally sarcastic when I said that out loud... but with the look Rick was giving me I could tell he thought I was being serious. He actually thought I meant that he needed to go and cover himself in the guts of these Walker's.

"I'm kidding." I said quietly.

Rick smirked, "I'm not."

"If bad idea's were an Olympic Event, this would take the gold." Glenn said as Rick tossed him a pair of rubber gloves.

I snorted, "Olympics don't exist anymore, buddy."

I now was standing off to the side watching Rick hand out supplies to people, completely perturbed by the fact that he had taken my sarcastic comment as an actual idea and now he was attempting to use it.

This was a terrible idea, and the odds of a success rate were low. Like, really low. Bentley was following Rick around, completely agreeing with everything he was saying. That pissed me off even more, I don't know what his little man crush on Rick is about but I don't like it.

"Man take some time and think this through." Morales said quickly.

Rick chuckled, "Yeah? How much time? They already got through one door, not long now 'til they get through the other one."

I sighed, "Look, not that I don't think this is a bad idea or anything but if you are going through with it you do realize what you have to do correct?" I asked the Sheriff that seemed to have all of his eggs in one damn basket and ready to go.

He nodded, "Yes, I know."

I rolled my eyes and followed the group as they made their way to a side exit door, on the outside stood an alley with a few Walker body's that could be used as a our donor's. I had a feeling that Bentley was going to volunteer himself to go with Rick to the construction site, and I didn't like that idea at all...

Once they had drug in a body the group gathered around the corpse, gazing down at the decaying skin and blood. The sight repulsed me. Everyone was dressed in trench coats and rubber gloves, we looked ridiculous.

Rick rose the ax, ready to hack the body into pieces but he stopped himself. Dropping the ax and face mask on the floor he crouched down and pulled the man's wallet form his pocket. Oh for Christ's sake.

He's dead, he was once living, we get it.

"You're wasting time, we need to get this show on the road." I said with annoyance.

I could feel Bentley glaring at me but I ignored it, I wasn't in the mood to deal with this kind of shit. My life was hanging in the balance here and I'll be damned that my demise will be because these dipshits wanna huddle around a dead body and Kumbaya about his past life.

Rick wrapped up his reading and then put the mask back on, he then wasted no time in chopping the body up. The Walker's stomach burst open, it's intestines popping out along with red much that I assumed were more organs...or they were at some point.

Everyone was gagging and hiding their faces from the sight of Rick defiling this body that was laying on the floor. After he seemed to get the stomach to mush, he then instructed everyone on wiping the contents on himself, Glenn, and my brother.

I wasted no time and picked up a handful and smacked it onto Bentley's chest, he winced at the squishing sound which only made me laugh. This kind of stuff really doesn't bother me, I have a strong stomach which comes in handy... like now for instance.

"This is so gross." Glenn said loudly as Andrea smeared some of the goop on his chest, she then draped an intestine around his shoulders, which caused another laugh to escape me.

"Think of something else, like puppies and kittens." Rick said in a stern voice.

T-dog then mutter, "Yeah, dead puppies and kittens."

Which resulted in Glenn hurling all over the floor, I rolled my eyes and continue to smear the goop on my brother. And judging by his facial expression he was not enjoying this one bit, "Problem big bro?" I teased.

Bentley narrowed his green eyes at me, "Stop."

"Oh this kind of looks like that one meat that Uncle Kenny would eat... that luncheon loaf." I continued my teasing which resulted in Bentley quickly turning his head and letting the contents of his stomach hit the floor.

"Alright how about we stop making people get sick because it's really starting to gross me out further." Andrea said as she narrowed her eyes at me.

I smirked in satisfaction when Bentley faced me again, a devious look on his face. One thing that remained the same during this apocalypse, I never missed a opportunity to fuck with my brother.

_**Bentley**_

This was by far the worst thing I have ever done in my life. Avery better be grateful that I turned away when I vomited; I could have let loose all over her, but I'm nice and that would be mean. "Do we smell like them yet?"

Andrea's face crinkled up, "Oh yeah." She handed Glenn her gun, "Glenn, just in case."

If we get out of this, I owe Avery an apology. I never would have intervened on the rooftop if I knew it would get us into this mess. It's just in my nature to help people, did feelings die along with the rest of the world? Avery would get pissed at me if I told her I was getting attached to these people. For once, I wanted it be more than just the two of us. I love her to death, but there is only so much tolerance for her, I mean, we are family and all, I do get tired of her sometimes.

Rick snapped me out of my thought, "If we make it back, be ready."

"What about Merle Dixon?" Was that all T-Dog cared about? I wish he would just get over it.

Rick reached into his pants pocket and produced the key to Merle's handcuffs; he tossed it over to T-Dog. There was a moment of silence, so I thought it would be the perfect time to mess with Avery. "Give your big brother a hug." She ran over to where my pack was, pulled out my bat, and held it to my face. She scared the shit out of me, I seriously thought she was going to bonk me upside the head. Should I be more scared of Avery or the Walkers? "Give me that. I might need it, Goofball."

Then Andrea ruined all the fun, "Would you two knock it off? Now isn't the time."

The two of us were about to protest when Rick interrupted, "Give me the ax, we need more guts." And he continued to chopped away at the Walker.

After having Avery wrap an intestine under my shoulder; Glenn, Rick, and I proceeded to enter the alleyway. The three of us looked at one another when we noticed two Walkers in the alley. Glenn rolled his eyes in disgust and we began walking. This was serious, so my happy-cheering side stayed behind with Avery. Passing one of the Walkers, Rick and I both readied ourselves with his ax and my bat. The Walker stared at us out of curiosity I believe since it kept on walking. I couldn't believe it, was Avery's sarcastic, made up idea, actually working? It seemed so since the second Walker did the same.

When we got to the end of the alley, we had to climb under a metro bus to get out on the streets. We walked the streets slowly, making sure to blend in as one of the dead. I couldn't tell if I was scared or not. Maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through my veins that I could only focus on getting over to the truck. There were so many Walkers that I lost count. My bat gently rested at my side, but I gripped the handle tightly, ready to strike when needed. We walked for what felt like hours. Overhead, thunder boomed. If a storm was coming, I prayed it came after we returned to the department store.

The Walkers were so close to us, it wasn't even funny. I could literally reach out and touch one on the back. I heard Glenn mumble something, "It's going to work, I can't believe it." How funny is that? I had said the same thing. I'll give my props to Avery once we get back.

Rick said something through his teeth, "Don't draw attention."

I about shit myself when I saw a Walker inches from Glenn's face. I motioned Glenn to stay calm, but he must have thought I meant something else because he made a really stupid face and started moaning. Was that really necessary? But the Walker just continued to stare and eventually walked off. Then more thunder sounded overhead. It was definitely getting louder or closer. I eyed Rick and Glenn as we kept moving forward, we were all most to the construction site. I jumped when something wet hit my forehead. Oh no, I hope it's not what I think it is.

It started to downpour. My insides started to churn, I was starting to panic. We weren't that far from the fence, just a bit more and we're golden. I swallowed when a Walker looked directly at me and then a second one did. I'm pretty sure they were starting to notice our scent. Shit. My jaw clenched when Glenn said what I feared, "The smell's washing off." He was getting frantic, "Isn't it? Is it washing off?"

Rick reassured him, "No it's not." Rick was eye-to-eye with a Walker, "Well, maybe."

A Walker behind us started growling. Great, they noticed us. Rick took it out with a chop to its head. A Walker came at me, I cracked it upside the head. Another one was coming from the right and I did the same. All three of us took out Walkers as we made our way to the fence. When there was a clearing, we bolted for the gate. We threw our weapons over so we could hop the fence. Landing on the other side, we took of the trench coats and I made sure that I picked my bat up; it was my trusty weapon. I followed Glenn to the utility box while Rick shot at the

Walkers climbing over the gate. Glenn broke the lock with his crow bar and handed me the keys.

"Rick!" I tossed the keys his way. A single Walker made its way over the gate and worked its way towards us. I opened the door to the truck and made my way into the back, while Rick took the wheel and Glenn in the passenger seat. The Walker clawed at the window, all I could manage was, "Go! Go! Go!" I watched in horror as the gate collapsed, allowing the Walkers to flood in. Rick backed the truck up into a couple of orange barrels and we raced for another gate, which Rick drove right through.

"Oh God, oh God!" Glenn flipped out, "They're all over that place."

Rick delivered what the plan was, "We need to draw them away. Those roll up doors in front of the store, that area, is what I need cleared." I listened carefully to what Rick was saying. "Brace your friends, tell them to get down there and be ready."

Glenn questioned Rick, "And draw the geeks away how? I missed that part."

I smirked when I knew the answer, "Noise."

Rick stopped next to a red Charger. I broke the window of it to sound its alarm. That would definitely catch the Walker's attention. Rick used a screwdriver to start-up the engine. Glenn jumped into the driver's seat and drove off. I stayed back with Rick in the truck and we drove off to get the others. We raced through the streets with Glenn behind us. Out of Rick's side view mirror, I could see Glenn. Then he sped past us and turned down a street to the right. After we turned down a few streets, we finally reached the roll up doors. Rick backed the truck up to the doors; the two of us made our way to the back of the truck and rolled the door up. I pounded on the metallic door, praying and hoping that everyone was waiting for us.


	3. Chapter 3 Welcome To Camp

_**Avery**_

"Nice idea, with the covering in guts thing. It was inventive." Andrea said to me as we made our way back to the rooftop. We needed to get their supplies and un-cuff Merle so we could get back down to the exit, hopefully Rick, Glenn, and my brother would be there waiting for us.

I nodded once and sent her a small smile as we walked out on the roof, the sun shining a lot brighter than the lights in the Mall. "Hey! What's going on?!" Merle shouted as everyone scampered over to their bags.

"Talk to me y'all!" Merle continued to yell, and it was pissing me off.

I turned on my heel and faced him, placing my hands on my hips and narrowing my bright blue eyes at him, "It's a need to know basis and frankly, you don't need to know."

He chuckled and a smirk made its way across his lips as he watched me, "You're feisty, I like that. Why don't you and I get to know each other a little better after I get out of these cuffs." He tried to act smooth and irresistible, he was failing miserably.

I rolled my eyes and turned around to face the group once more, "Can you see them?" I asked Morales as I walked over to him, since he had the binoculars he was the one that could find them and follow them.

He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the booming thunder overhead, the sky was darkening in color and we all knew what that meant. The storm was coming...

"You're telling me that asshole is out on the street with the key?!" Merle asked frantically.

T-dog then held up the key with a look that could kill, resulting in Merle shutting his mouth and narrowing his eyes. He clearly wasn't a big fan of the situation at the moment.

Rain then began to fall from the sky at a high-speed, the thunder continued to echo throughout the sky and I knew that the water would wash off the goop and smell that was concealing my brother from the Walker's.

"Shit, that's gonna mess all this up." I said in annoyance as I leaned over the edge of the building, straining my eye's so I could see them. To be honest I couldn't really tell them apart from the Walker's at this point.

Well all that changed the minute that Rick hit one over the head with an ax, every damn Walker on the street then began to chase after the three of them as they made their way over the fence. They took out a few as they fought their way to some sort of safety, my heart beat was erratic as I watched Bentley haul himself over the gate.

"They made it." Andrea said with a grin as she continued to watch them. I needed to stay calm, if I started to panic then all hell would break loose. I trust my brother, he knows what he's doing.

The gate then fell down and Walker's breached the construction site, thankfully the three of them had gotten into a truck... but they were driving in the opposite direction, away from the Mall.

It was common sense to know that they were just circling the area and trying to draw Walker's out, but for some reason Andrea didn't see it that way. "They're leaving us! They're leaving!" She shouted.

"No, no they're not." Morales replied quickly.

The radio in T-dog's hand then began to crackle and Glenn's voice carried through, "The roll up doors in the front of the store, meet us there and be ready."

Everyone then went to grab their bags and belongings, I already had mine on but I had to grab Bentley's. Once his bag was on my back I made a dash for the door that led back into the Mall, I was leading and Andrea wasn't far behind me. I took the stairs two at a time, trying my hardest to not trip over my own two feet.

When I slid into the store, the glass that was holding the Walker's back was beginning to crack, and I knew it was only a matter of time before they got through. A short matter of time...

"Hurry your asses up!" I shouted at the group, they were so far behind me it wasn't even funny, I was at least twenty feet ahead of Andrea and she was a good fifteen feet in front of Morales and Jacqui.

When I finally got to the door that the truck would be at I wasted no time in gripping on the chain tightly, waiting for the signal to open the door. Morales, Andrea, and Jacqui then came scrambling into the room breathing heavily.

A car alarm was going off somewhere outside, and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that it was Rick and my brother's doing. That must be how they're getting all the Walker's away from this door, so we can get out without getting eaten.

"How do we know when to pull it?" Morales asked while he tried to control his heavy breathing, he clearly wasn't in the physical condition he needed to be in for this sort of thing...

I sighed, "They'll let us know."

T-dog then slid into the room, breathing heavily and shouting. When he ran over to us he was shaking his head from side to side quickly, "Hurry! They're in here!" Just as he said that someone knocked on the door.

Andrea, Jacqui and myself jerked on the chain, pulling the door open. My brother was standing there with an urgent look on his face. "Come on!"

He then grabbed Andrea's forearm and jerked her into the back of the truck, I tossed our bags in and jumped in as well. I helped Jacqui in while Bentley helped T-dog and Morales. I then noticed that Merle wasn't here... shit T-dog left him on the roof? That's shitty...

Walker's then seemed to appear out of nowhere and came at the back of the truck, Morales quickly shut the door and Rick sped off from the mall. I plopped down on my butt, running my hands over my face a few times. That was the most stressful five minutes of my life. I knew helping these people would be a terrible idea.

Bentley sat down beside me and bumped his knee against my own, causing me to look up at him in confusion. "Sorry, about this... it wasn't my best idea." He said quietly, so the rest of the group couldn't hear us. They were too busy talking about the situation at hand to even acknowledge us though.

I shrugged, "It's fine... we'll just... see how it goes."

"Props on the gut idea though." He grinned as he ruffled my hair playfully.

I rolled my eyes and shoved him away from me, I hated when he messed with my hair. It was such an annoying gesture. He chuckled and then rested his head on the wall of the truck, letting out a sigh.

"Where's Merle?" I asked T-dog, the awkward silent eye contact that everyone was giving him wasn't answering their questions, and I wasn't afraid to ask him.

"I dropped the damn key."

Mhmm, 'dropped'...

"It's best not to dwell on it, that you didn't bring Merle back. No one's gonna be upset about it, except.. maybe Daryl." Morales said to Rick, they were conversing privately but I was listening.

"Daryl?"

"His brother."

He's got a brother? Are you kidding me? Well that settles it, Bentley and I are not staying with this group. If there's another person like Merle staying there I'm avoiding that situation, from the short amount of time I spent with Merle that was enough to cut any potential ties with him out of my mind.

That car alarm sound was penetrating the confines of the truck, and a red dodge charger drove past us. Glenn was cheering loudly, pumping his fist in the air as he passed us on the road.

"At least somebody's having a good day..." Morales said with a small smile.

After that the rest of the drive was silent, except for a few words exchanged with the fellow people of the truck. Bentley and I remained silent, studying and taking notes on the people we would be staying the night with.

Rick had followed the instructions Morales gave him and we had driven up into a reserve area pretty far out from the city. I could see the small group of people and their camp through the windshield, it didn't look too bad.

"Well, come meet everybody." Morales said to Rick, Bentley, and myself.

Everyone exited the truck, leaving Rick, Bentley and myself to stay back while they got to greet their family members. I won't lie, I was jealous. What I would give to be able to hug my mom like that again...

Rick then left and walked over to the group, Bentley and I followed suit. When his eyes landed on a woman and a little boy he froze, staggering back a little as we just stared at them. By the look on the young boy's face you could tell her recognized him, but I thought Rick was new? As in he just joined the group today?

"Dad!"

The boy and woman, who I presumed to be his mother, then ran at Rick. They embraced each other and cried happily. The shocked expressions on everyone's faces told me that this was the first meeting of Rick and his family... which makes me wonder how they got here?

"Well this certainly makes our introductions fairly easier." I said to my brother, he ignored my comment and continued to watch the interaction of Rick and his family.

I could tell he was thinking about our mom and Uncle Kenny, he acted like he was okay and put on a strong front for me, but I knew he was still hurting. He was really close to our mother, since I really didn't get along with her until the world went to shit. I was more of a daddy's girl I guess, but considering our dad ran out on us when I six years old I guess I can't be labeled as that either.

"And who are you two?" A man with a sun hat and Hawaiian shirt asked my brother and I, pulling our attention away from Rick.

Bentley blinked a few times before responding, "Uh, my name is Bentley and this is my younger sister, Avery."

He smiled and nodded at us, "I'm Dale, welcome to the group."

That night Bentley and I sat by the fire while everyone exchanged stories, Rick talked the most, explaining how he woke up from a coma and found the world to be like this. Apparently he had been shot during a car chase and was in a coma for weeks before he finally woke up.

His partner, Shane, who also happened to be in this group was also happy to see him. For some reason Shane was giving me a bad vibe, the looks he kept giving Rick's wife were kind of weird. Her name was Lori, and his son's name was Carl. Andrea had a younger sister, named Amy. And that's pretty much all the intel I had gotten from the bonfire.

When we went to sleep that night, Bentley and I shared a tent, provided by the group. It was roomy too, we could fit our bags in here and we even had a small table to put some of our belongings on. I slept with my 9MM by my pillow that night, just in case.

"Avery, wake up." I opened my eyes to find my brother shaking my shoulder gently, his short brown hair was sticking out in all directions and his eyes were squinted due to the sunlight.

I sat up quickly, pushing my side bangs out of my eyes as I glanced around the tent attentively. Why was he waking me up? "What's wrong?" I asked him, my voice cracked due to the fact that I had just woken up.

He shrugged, "No idea, I hear shouting though, come on."

He then climbed out of the tent, leaving me to follow after him. Once I had my boots on, and my knifes secured to my belt I crawled out of the tent following Bentley's retreating figure. When I saw Shane holding some guy in a headlock I knew shit was going down...

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic, do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked the guy in the headlock, he was breathing heavily and Rick was clearly agitated.

Shane then tossed the guy to the ground and they took a step away from him, "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work or play well with others." Rick explained to the guy, who I presumed to be Daryl Dixon, Merle's brother.

He looked nothing like Merle. He had light brown hair, and his face didn't look as worn out from drug abuse. He was wearing a shirt with cut off sleeve, allowing his biceps to be clearly visible.

"It's not Rick's fault, I had the key and I dropped it." T-dog said, taking complete responsibility for leaving Merle on the roof.

"And you couldn't pick it up?!" Daryl spat as he glared at T-dog.

He sighed, "I dropped it down the drain."

Daryl looked down at the ground, letting out a breath. He pushed himself to a standing position, he then walked around a bit, keeping his eyes on T-dog, "If that's s'pose to make me feel better, it don't."

"How about this, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get him. With a padlock." T-dog added.

I glanced at Bentley and he had his arms crossed over his chest, watching Daryl intently. He didn't trust him, at all. I don't blame him, from what I've seen of Daryl Dixon he seems to be completely unstable..

"That's got to count for something." Rick said, his voice was taking a softer tone.

Daryl then wiped at his eyes, tears were forming and he was trying his hardest to keep them from showing. "To hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is, so I can go and get him." He muttered.

The sight of him like that caused my chest to hurt, if I were in his position I'd be acting the same way. God, if something happened to Bentley I don't know what I'd do.

"He'll show you, isn't that right?" Lori butted in, her eyes fixed on her husband.

Rick nodded, "I'm going back."

_**Bentley**_

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Daryl; I did tackle Merle and all. Once Rick said he was going back, I knew I had to also. "I'm going too." I turned to Daryl, "I tackled Merle, which helped Rick handcuff him." Rick eyed me and we went to get ready. It was only natural that Avery followed me back into the tent to show her disagreement.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Bentley?" Her words not phasing me, "Why are you going to go risk you life for a douche bag like Merle?"

She was seriously starting to tick me off, "He's family."

"Excuse me? He's...family? I think your barking up the wron-"

I stood up and faced her, "Shut the fuck up Avery, that's not what I meant. He's Daryl's family." She was obviously stunned, "How many times have I told you how important family is? Andrea has Amy, Rick has Lori and Carl, I have you, and who does Daryl have at the moment? No one."

Avery was taken back by my words, "Bentley...I"

"I'm not done yet." I slung my bag over my shoulders and grabbed my bat, "Besides, we left him like an animal caught in a trap. I know that's not how I wanna die, so why should someone else, a human being, have to?"

"I'm going with you then."

I stopped her before she could move, "You're staying. I what you to get to know these people. Mingle a little. Frankly, I like it here. It's a good group of people. I know you're not going to want to hear this, but we're staying."

She threw her hands up, "Fine, whatever." I could sense her aggravation, "Let's get with the others."

Walking out of our tent, Shane was going off on Rick, "You're going to risk four of our men? You saw that Walker, it was in our camp!"

I held up a hand, "Did I just hear him right? A Walker was inside the camp?"

Rick walked over to us and placed his body in the middle, "Shane, Bentley is tagging along with us, so it's five. Avery here, she'll be able to help defend the camp if anything happens. Trust me, they're tough sons-a-bitches."

A small smirk formed on my face. I was happy to hear Rick talk about us in such a positive way. It was a sign that he really trusted us. Even though Rick tried to break through Shane's thick skull, he still continued to go off. Something about the Walkers leaving the cities and moving on, needing every able body he can get Rick just told him Avery could help when needed. I'm going to say it now, Shane is the type of guy I would love to punch in the face. Maybe Avery needs to rethink who the douche bag is...

"You know, it seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Avery pointed out.

"Right," Glenn remembered something, "Guns."

Shane was totally lost, "What guns?" I was intrigued to know too. Rick was a cop after all, so maybe a police station was near by.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns." Rick took over when he knew what Glenn was talking about, "I cleaned out the station before I left. I dropped the bag when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up. Ammo too, seven hundred rounds."

Out of nowhere, Lori spoke up, "You went through hell to find us. You just got here and now you're going to turn around and leave?"

Carl put his penny in too, "I-I don't want you to go."

I put my hand over Rick's shoulder, "Don't you two worry. I'll keep him safe, I won't ever leave his side. Deal?"

"To hell with the guns." Lori spat. I almost called her a bitch but I figured that was my cue to leave. Avery and I walked over to the truck while the group finished their chat. I watched as Lori and Rick were face-to-face, arguing over something, maybe the guns still? Then Shane and Andrea put their two-say in. I was trying to eavesdrop, but they talked a little low. Rick walked over to Carl after saying something to Lori. I don't know what Rick told him, but Carl looked over at us, then back to his father, and nodded.

I hopped into the truck with Glenn and Daryl while Rick and T-Dog went to get some bolt cutters. I sat on the bed on the truck watching Dale bicker about something to Rick. It was probably something stupid. Then Jim spoke up about something too, said something about sweetening up the deal. No one seemed to be in a rush to get Merle back, so I wanted to talk with Daryl a bit, but all he did was give me the evil eye. I took that as a no. Daryl then walked to the front of the truck and honked the horn, "C'mon! Let's go!"

We all filed into the truck: Rick and Glenn up front. T-Dog, Daryl, and myself in the bed of the truck. Upon reaching the railroad tracks, Daryl calmly talked to T-Dog about Merle. The truck came to a rocky stop. Glenn took the keys out of the ignition and said, "We walk from here."

We jogged up the tracks a little and walked trough a gate. When we got to another fence, Glenn popped something off it and a square section

rolled back so we could walk through it.

"Merle or the guns first?" Rick asked.

"Merle! We ain't even havin' this conversation." Daryl walked a few feet in front of us. Oh boy, I could tell that something wasn't going to go right.

"Yes, we are!" Rick spat back, "Glenn, you know the geography. It's your call."

Glenn thought for a moment, "Merle is the closes. The guns we'd meet doubling back. Merle first." With that said, we raced forward.

We kept our movements to a minimum once we were inside the department store. Rick held his hand up to stop us. A few feet ahead, there was a Walker just moving about. Daryl crept towards it, "Damn. What one ugly skank." He lifted his crossbow up and fired an arrow between the Walker's eyes. I about lost my insides when Daryl pulled his arrow out. Guess he only as so many. Glenn grabbed my shoulder and the five of us started for the roof.

I stood behind T-Dog as he cut the chains, in case Merle...I couldn't believe I was thinking that, but I did have the only mêlée weapon. Daryl pushed his way through and ran out on the roof, "Merle!"

Getting to where Merle should be, I about fell over. Daryl was screaming his lungs out, he gave a nasty look to T-Dog. In the place of Merle was a saw, bloody handcuffs, and...Merle's hand. I looked to Daryl as he continued to scream, he was heartbroken. My own heart hurt for him.

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	4. Chapter 4 Bonding ?

_**Avery**_

I was pissed, beyond pissed even. I didn't want to stay here with these people who I didn't know, I would rather have gone into the city with Bentley and Rick. Out of everyone here, Rick seems the most trustworthy.

Amy and Andrea had gone fishing, why I have no idea, leaving me to sit and talk with the only other woman who was around camp at the time and that happened to be Lori. After the little stunt she pulled earlier with Rick she was already on my shit list. Telling him that he couldn't go into the city when she clearly volunteered him to show Daryl where Merle was. Wishy washy bitch.

"So, you and your brother have been on your own this whole time?" She asked me, she was busying herself with cleaning some pots and pans. I opted out on helping and just sat in the lawn chair that I had claimed as my own.

I nodded, "Yep, pretty much."

"What about your parents?"

My jaw clenched at the persistent questions, why is she asking me about my parents? What could she possibly do with that tidbit of information? Nothing. Knowing what happened to my parents won't do shit.

"Died, along with pretty much everyone else."

Lori was silent and I could feel her eyes on me, no doubt she was trying to read my facial expression, trying to figure out why I was being such a cold-hearted bitch about the fact that my parents are dead.

"I'm sorry, it's never easy to lose someone..." She spoke quietly.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Shit happens."

Amy and Andrea then walked over to the fire pit, with a lot of fish attached to two pieces of chain, Morales was laughing happily while everyone else began to clap with enthusiasm. "Ladies, because of you my children will eat tonight, thank you." He replied.

Andrea shrugged, "Thank Dale, it's his canoe and gear."

"Where'd you guys learn how to catch like that?" I asked curiously, an estimate of the amount of fish would be about a solid 25 or so. How they managed to get that many in that short amount of time is astounding.

"My dad taught us." Amy answered with a smile.

Carl looked at the fish in amazement, "Can you teach me?"

"Sure! I can teach you all about nail knots and stuff, if that's okay?" Amy asked Lori as she craned her neck around Andrea to meet her gaze.

Lori nodded, "You won't catch me arguing."

Dale then began to walk towards the group, sweat drenching both of his shirts and lingering on his wrinkled forehead, "I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem." He said as he pointed over towards a hill.

I held my hand above my eyes to shield the sunlight as I tried to focus in on what he was talking about, when I saw Jim digging holes I realized what he meant. People don't just go digging holes for no reason...

Morales, Dale, Andrea, Amy, Shane, and myself all made our way to the top of the hill that Jim was digging holes on. The sun seemed to be radiating more heat than usual today, and the amount of sweat dripping down my back was making me uncomfortable. I liked warm weather, but sweating... not so much.

"Hey Jim?" Shane called out to him, Jim ignored him and continued to shovel through the dirt. He was dead set on digging as many holes as possible, why was he digging holes?

"Why don't you hold up a second, please?" Shane asked politely.

Jim sighed in annoyance and stopped shoveling, turning on his heel to face all of us that were standing here watching him. "What?" He asked in a huff.

"Dale says you've been out here for hours..." Morales added.

Jim shrugged his shoulders, "So?"

"So why are you digging all these holes?" I asked in annoyance, clearly these people didn't know how to get to the damn point. Shane nodded in agreement and lowered his head a bit as he watched Jim's facial expression.

"You headin' to China or something?" Shane asked with a chuckle.

Jim rolled his eyes and began digging again, "What's it matter? I'm not hurting anyone."

"No, but you're hurting yourself. It's 100 degrees today." Dale reasoned.

I sighed and ran my hands over my face, "Alright well they're not going to say it so I will, you're scaring people. You're scaring Carl and Sophia, and frankly making no sense to everyone else."

Jim once again stopped digging and took a breath, "They ain't got nothin' to be scared of. I mean what the hell people I'm out here all by myself so why don't you all just leave me the hell alone."

Jim then started digging again and I knew that he wasn't going to stop willingly, for some reason this guy just wanted to keep digging all of these holes. I glanced at Shane and he sighed as he took a step towards Jim, "Look you need a break, why don't you go sit in the shade get something to drink and then later I'll even help you myself dig some more." He tried to reason with him.

"Or what? You gonna beat my face in like Ed's? You all see what he did to him? Look who voted you king boss man? Nobody, I don't have to listen to you." Jim was getting hostile, you could see the look in his eye change and it freaked me out.

I knew that there was some altercation with Shane earlier, at the lake. I didn't ask questions because I could honestly give two shits less who beats who's face in. But apparently Jim wasn't a huge fan of it.

"There is no or what? I'm asking you to stop." Shane said with a shake of his head.

He gave me a look, telling me that he wanted me to step up if things got serious. Why? Why are my brother and I nominated for this shit? This is why I knew joining this group would be a bad idea. I don't want to have to risk my life for these idiots.

Jim started swinging his shovel at Shane, which resulted in him getting taken down to the ground, Shane on top of him. I jerked the shovel out of Jim's hands and took a step back so the guys had room. "Jim stop it! No one is going to hurt you." Shane said calmly to a very freaked out Jim.

This was some start to the fucking day, I swear.

_**Bentley**_

Daryl flipped his lid; he turned and aimed his crossbow at T-Dog, Rick loaded his gun and pointed at Daryl's head. After a few seconds of an intense stare down, Rick got his point across, "I won't hesitate. I don't care if every Walker in the city hears it."

It was hard to watch Daryl fight back his tears. Eventually, Daryl stood down. He stared at T-Dog for a while, "You gotta do-rag or somethin'?"

T-Dog pulled out a blue bandanna Daryl yanked it out of his hands and walked over to his brother's hand. He rolled the bandanna out and picked the hand up like it was nothing, "I guess the, uh, saw blade was to dull for the handcuffs." He spun the hand around on a finger, "Ain't that a bitch?"

That was starting to make my stomach queasy, my insides were about to shoot out of me, again. I was thankful when Daryl finished wrapping up the hand and stored it inside Glenn's bag and not mine. I was thinking the same thing when Daryl said it: Merle must of used a tourniquet or there would've been more blood. I have to admit, Daryl has sharp eyes, none of us had noticed the blood trail besides him. Following the blood, it led us into another section of the building. I was getting tired of stairs, I just wanted to get back to the camp so I could rest. This day couldn't get any worse.

We finally ran into our first Walker, it was Daryl and his bad ass crossbow to take it out. I'll have to discuss it with Avery, but we should seriously think about investing in one of those; but it probably isn't hard to get your hands on one nowadays. We walked through what I was assuming was an Office. On the floor of the reception area, two dead Walkers lay on the ground. Daryl praised his brother, "Had enough in him to take out these sons-a-bitches."

I chuckled, "One handed."

"Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother." Daryl loaded his crossbow, "Hand him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

That wasn't a pleasant sight to imagine. Daryl really seems to be close to Merle, it's a shame I didn't to something about it back when we were stuck in here.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss." Rick started to move on, "No matter how tough he is."

The blood trail went to a kitchen in the back. Daryl and Rick peered around the corner, "Merle!?" Did Daryl want to let the Walker know where we were?

"We're not alone here." Rick hissed, "Remember?"

"You said it yourself, he's bleeding out."

Creeping further in, a single flame was burning on the stove. Blood was everywhere; Merle was definitely here. Rick picked up what seemed to be a press iron covered in black stuff, "What's that burnt stuff?" I was curious.

Rick hesitated a minute, "Skin."

I raised my eyebrows, "He cauterized his stump."

"I told you he was tough," Daryl chimed in, "Nobody can kill Merle, but Merle."

Rick shook his head, "Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood."

Daryl walked over to the windows, "Oh yeah? Didn't stop him from bustin' outta this death trap."

A hole was broken in the window. Why would Merle leave the building? I stuck my head out the window while the other four talked. There was a fire escape which he could of easily used to get down. Daryl and T-Dog were at it again, so I kept my head out the window to take in some air. A thought struck me when I saw a Walker minding its own business in the distance, "Guys, what are his odds out there with a thousand of those dead bastards?"

I pulled my head back in when Daryl raised his voice at Rick. They were up in each others faces. For once, I wish we could finish something without an argument being started. All I could do was watch and listen until they blew off their steam. They wanted to go out on the streets, to check a few blocks. I was all for it, but was that the safest option?

"Only if we get those guns first," T-Dog announced, "I'm not strollin' the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"

Glenn wanted to do this alone, again. I still don't see what's with him and not wanting to take anyone. I'd sure as hell want backup if anything went astray out there; it's not worth getting your ass eaten.

"It's a good idea, okay?" Glenn was trying his hardest to convince us all, "Just...hear me out." He proceeded to draw a diagram of the city on the marble floor, "If I'm by myself, I can move fast. Look." He placed one of those black paper clips in the middle of two squares, "This is the tank, five blocks from where we are now." Then Glenn put a wadded up piece of paper in front of the paper clip, "This is the bag of guns." He pointed between two more squares, "Here's the alley where I first met Rick. That's where Daryl, Bentley, and I'll go."

"Why us?" Daryl questioned.

"Your crossbow and his bat are quieter than Rick's gun."

I felt uneasy when Daryl eyed me. I still have mixed feelings about this guy, so we'll see what happens. Glenn finished explaining his plan and I gotta say, it's a hell of a plan. Daryl seemed to be intrigued by it too since he asked Glenn what he did before the world ended. I was laughing internally at his answer; delivered pizzas. Now, it was time to put the plan in motion.

The three of us climbed down the ladder that put us in our alleyway. A Walker was roaming the streets outside the fence and we ducked behind a dumpster. Glenn readied himself to run, Daryl loaded his crossbow, and I gripped the bat with both hands.

Readying himself, Daryl said a funny remark, "You got some balls for a China men."

Glenn smarted back with him being Korean. I had to pinch my nose to keep myself from laughing aloud. Glenn took off out of the alley and it was all up to him now. We waited in silence for Glenn to come back our way, if he didn't, he was forced to go to where Rick and T-Dog were waiting. Everything that happened next came so fast, it was hard to process. Something rock hard hit me in the back of the head. I fell face first into the pavement. My vision was blurred, but I could faintly see Daryl spin out from his hiding spot. I think he called my name, but I was in one hell of a daze to know for sure.

Standing over me, I saw two fuzzy legs. Daryl had his crossbow at the ready. Their muffled voices told me that they were in a heated conversation. The figure's muffles grew louder, was he yelling? I guessed so since Daryl took him down with a hit his crossbow. Two more people came from behind me. They shoved Daryl off of the other guy, maybe they were friends? My vision was good enough for me to see that two men were wailing on Daryl with a bat and their feet. My bat had rolled over from me in the fall, but I managed to pick it up. Before the guy with the bat could swing once more on Daryl, I blocked it with my bat.

That wasn't such a good idea. The force from the swing sent vibration up through the bat and into my hands. It stung like a motherfucker which caused me to fall down again. Glenn came back from around the corner. Once the two men on Daryl saw him, their interest was on the bag of guns. They bolted off after him. Daryl got himself up and fired an arrow into the bald guy's ass. The two of us raced forward to attack, but the used Glenn was a shield.

"Daryl! Bentley! Help me!" Glenn shouted in fear. A car pulled up and all the men jumped inside, taking Glenn with them. Walkers were all over the place now. We stopped at the gate.

"Get back here you bitches!" Daryl was pissed.

I started shutting the gate, "We gotta close this. Help me!"

Rick and T-Dog came running from behind. Daryl tackled the young boy, who was the one that probably hit me. Rick and I grabbed onto Daryl to keep him from doing anything further. Of course Daryl spat out a few things that he would only think of.

I took over from there, "They took Glenn. Him and his bastard friends." We couldn't move any further, so we backtracked back up the ladder. Once we were back in the building, Daryl sat the boy down and had a not so friendly conversation with him. Daryl threatened him by showing

Merle's hand and that he would cut the boy's feet off. Remind me to never get on Daryl's bad side. After awhile, the boy finally told us where they were hold up.

The boy led us to an abandoned factory or warehouse. Rick handed T-Dog and myself the two rifles from inside the duffel bag. We loaded the guns, T-Dog went his way onto a roof, and I went the opposite way. I looked through the scope when I was settled. Four people were visible and right away, I recognized the bald guy. I let out a faint laugh. So far, so good, nothing was going wrong; it seemed to be working. Or not.

It seems I spoke to soon. Everyone raised their weapons; I rested my finger gently on the trigger. I was aiming for the guy Rick was talking to since it seemed he was the leader. Rick looked up to T-Dog and the guy followed.

"C'mon Rick." I mumbled, "Make the trade. Please."

The guy in the middle shouted something and on the roof behind him, two men stood with a person with there face cover. I already knew it was before the removed the white bag. Glenn. Dammit, the traded didn't work. So now it was on to plan B; I stayed behind up here on the roof while the others went and formed the plan. I explained to them that I have, or had, a black belt, so I could take a few people on if I got caught. Rick looked up to me and I nodded; it was time for me to spy and make sure they weren't being followed.

I joined them after the returned about thirty minutes later. They had the boy bound which I happily enjoyed; his little stunt back in the ally left me with a killer headache. Two men opened the door and let us in. The four of us at our guns pointed straight forward. There were so many people in here that I was praying we didn't have to open fire. The who was talking to Rick outside before stood in front of us, "I see my guns, but they're not all in the bag."

"That's because they're not yours." I never seen Rick this serious before, "Thought I mentioned that?"

The bald guy wanted to unload on our ass, but the guy, I still haven't heard his name, didn't think we appreciated the full gravity of the situation. I hated nothing more that when people tried to sound smart, "I think we're pretty clear." I decided to have a say in all of this. Rick than cut the boy's restraints around his hands. There was another heated conversation, so I just stood back, trying to ignore the pain. It was time we raised our weapons. This was it, we were all going to die. But when an elderly woman stepped out from the crowd, everyone lowered their guns. She said something about someone needing medicine. After a moment, the guy decided to let us through.

"Guys, I'm going to step outside. My heads killing me." I let the guys know what I was up to, "It looks like this is under control."

I sat in the dirt, rubbing the back of my head. Shivers went down my spine when my fingers ran over a welt the size of a golf ball. I closed my eyes for a little bit until Rick and everyone came back with Glenn. Daryl helped me up and the five of us started the walk back to the truck.

We made it back to the railroad tracks in a matter of minutes. Daryl was going off about there being old farts and they would die off quickly anyway. I feel like I missed something very important in there. We all froze when we rounded the corner and didn't see the truck anywhere.

"Oh my God." Glenn sounded frustrated as usual.

Daryl even seemed to be stunned, "Where the hell's our van?"

"We left it right there, who would take it?" I came off a little bitchy.

Rick knew exactly who, "Merle."

"He's goin' to be takin' some vengeance back to camp." That's all Daryl had to say for us to start the run back to camp.

It was taking us forever to get back to camp. Night had fallen and this wasn't good; I didn't like to be out walking in the dark. We weren't that far from camp when a gunshots went off in the distance. I placed the bat inside my backpack and gripped the rifle tightly as it hung over my shoulder. There was only one place I could think of where a shot would go off. Camp.

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Hello! So... uh, little bit of an awkward situation on the last chapter... Being the ditz I am, I uploaded Chapter One again... whoops! But, I got it all sorted out so yeah. Hope you enjoyed this chapter ! -Sasha :D


	5. Chapter 5 Defense Is The Best Offense

_**Avery**_

After the situation with Jim was settled the day seemed to last forever, the heat wasn't helping the situation much and I really had no one to talk to. I took to busying myself by cleaning my gun, I had nothing better to do and the sight of me handling me own would show these people not to fuck with me or my brother. It was a win-win.

Andrea's sister, Amy came and sat beside me as the sky began to grow dark. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous due to the fact that Bentley, Rick, Daryl, T-dog, and Glenn were all still MIA.

"That kind-of looks like my sister's." Amy said to me, she was trying to make me feel welcome and comfortable. It was no use, I hardly ever felt comfortable. Even when the world wasn't full of Walkers I still had issues with being comfortable around people. I've always been that way, cautious. It's both a blessing and a curse, I guess.

I nodded, "Yeah, I noticed they're similar models."

Amy let out a sigh as she lounged back in the lawn chair, it squeaked several times as she adjusted her weight so she could get comfortable. "I couldn't help but notice, and don't get weirded out or whatever, but your brother's pretty attractive."

My eyes widened as I turned my head to face her, what in the hell? I was not expecting to hear that, at all. Who says that? Who even has time to think about things like that now-a-days?

There was no stopping the laugh that escaped me, the fact that she just called my brother attractive struck something in me that I found comical. I mean Bentley is a catch, that's a given. Girls back in our old town would always be talking about him, he was smart, played on the Varsity Baseball team and I guess he was good-looking. Even though my dad was a piece of shit, he was handsome... and Bentley looked a lot like him.

I was stuck with my mom's looks, which I hated. She was beautiful, physically. But her personality was ugly. Well it was to me anyway. She never seemed to take to me, it was always Bentley.

I stopped my laughing and shook my head from side to side, "Sorry, I just haven't heard anything like that in a while..."

Amy chuckled and tucked her blonde hair behind her ear, "He is. I told Andrea and she just rolled her eyes at me, ya know? I needed to tell someone, and you seemed lonely."

I rose an eyebrow at her suspiciously, "Have people been asking about my brother and I? You know, wanting to get details and such?"

She shrugged her shoulders and leaned farther back in the chair, "I guess, I mean you two are new and we really don't know anything about you."

I nodded in understanding, I can't blame these people for being apprehensive. In this day and age it's the only way to survive. I still think they're soft though, if they were willing to let Bentley and I stay here over night like they did, then they obviously aren't as rigid and cold cut as they should be. We could have killed them all last night and then stole their supplies, yet they trusted us anyway.

"So, anything that you'd like to share?" Amy asked, her eyes lighting up in amusement. The corners of her lips pulled into a smile, and I found it really hard to be rude to her now. She looked so young... she must be nineteen, and with me being twenty-two I'm not much older but she just has a personality of a young girl.

I let out a sigh and ran my hand through my hair trying to think of something to tell her, "I talk in my sleep. Bent says it's bad when I'm really tired."

"Do you sleep walk?"

I chuckled as I nodded again, "Yeah, sometimes."

Amy let out a short laugh, "That's crazy!"

Footsteps caught my attention and I turned my head to see Shane approaching us, the rest of the group was gathered over by the fire and I knew that he was coming over here to tell Amy to join them. The look on his face told me that he wanted to speak with me, privately.

"Amy, why don't you go and get something to eat." Shane suggested as he rose his eyebrows, his silent way of telling her to do what he says with no objections.

She nodded her head, "Sure thing, I'll make you a plate Avery."

"Thank you." I replied with a small smile, she then walked away humming a song to herself. Once she was completely out of earshot Shane took the seat beside me, he was silent as he just looked me up and down, studying me.

I sighed, "Something you need to tell me?"

"I'm just tryin' to figure you out, is all. I mean you're small, and you don't look like much but from what Rick told me and how you handled the situation with Jim earlier, I can see that you're not just some girl. You could very well be dangerous, and I just want to know where your head is at." He stated, getting straight to the point.

I nodded in understanding, "I get it. My brother wanted to help Rick and your friends back in Atlanta. We didn't expect any charity or to even be invited to stay with you all. Rick obviously wants us both here, and he seems to know his shit, if you get my drift. I'm not a threat to you unless you're a threat to me."

A smile made its way on his face as he shook his head from side to side slowly, letting out a low chuckle. "You seem to have everything in order."

"You have to with how everything is, Shane. I'm not saying that my brother and I are perfect, but we aren't going to jeopardize your camp." I said honestly, we had no intention of hurting these people. Well, if push came to shove I wouldn't mind offing Lori... so far she seems disposable and irritating.

Shane stood from his chair and nodded his head towards the fire, "Why don't ya come join us? It'd make getting to know you a hell of a lot easier."

I sighed as I stood up, stuffing my gun in the back of my jeans. I followed Shane over to the fire, and everyone was chuckling while Dale shook his head from side to side, "It might be my bad paraphrasing, is all."

Amy handed me my plate and I took a seat beside her, next to Morales' wife. The fire was crackling and emitting heat, which made me feel even more sticky with sweat. It wasn't too cold out at the moment, yet everyone was gathered around the flame like moths...

"So, Avery where are you and your brother from?" Dale asked once he saw that I was seated comfortably, clearly everyone was interested due to the amount of eyes that were glued on me at the moment...

I set my plate on the ground and started picking at my fingernails, a habit I had gotten into as a child. "Uh, Grayson? It's a little town outside of Atlanta."

Dale nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I've heard of it."

I sighed, "Yeah, been there my whole life."

Amy then stood and turned towards the RV, only to be stopped by Andrea. "Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom? Jeez, you try to be discreet around here." She mumbled as she walked back to the RV. The group laughed at the sister's bantering, the sibling bickering only made me more nervous for my brother.

If he wasn't back by morning I was going to head into Atlanta after him. He's been gone too long, it shouldn't take them this long to find Merle. If he's handcuffed to a roof there isn't many places he could go.

Conversation broke out amongst everyone, Morales and his family talked about the fish and how much they enjoyed it. Carl and Sophie, Carol's daughter, chatted about school and their old teachers. Shane was silent, sending glances at Lori every so often. I was coming to the conclusion that they had done something together, something that Lori didn't want Shane to bring up...

A loud scream filled the area around us and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing on edge, that scream sounded painful. It was a girls scream, and by the way Andrea turned around I could tell she recognized it.

Everyone then faced the RV, where we saw Amy's forearm being bitten into by a Walker. Panic flooded through me as I tried to get my brain cleared, I needed to focus. More and more Walkers headed into the camp, where the fuck did they all come from?!

Shane and I were on our feet's first, our guns were out and for all the Walker's heading in our direction. Everyone, and I mean everyone, started screaming and shouting things. The loud sounds were not helping me focus, at all.

"SHANE WHAT DO WE DO?!" Lori screamed as she held Carl close, they got right behind Shane as he shot several Walkers with his shotgun.

"Avery, stay with me." Shane spoke calmly, I nodded in understanding. We had to get the kids to safety, Carl and Sophia were the priorities at the moment. Carol then came and kept close to Lori, clutching Sophia tightly against her.

I took out three Walkers, remembering to shot them in the head, and stayed beside Shane. Dale had a rifle out, taking Walkers out from a distance, while everyone else were using either bats, ax's or shovels to take out the others.

"GET THEM IN THEIR HEADS, DAMNIT!" I shouted at Shane, he was shooting them anywhere but the heads, and he was wasting ammo and valuable time. Luckily he listened to me and started aiming for their heads.

We made our way away from the fire, more gunshots could be heard now. There were at least five more people firing, I could hear my brother screaming my name. Thank God he made it back alright.

"AVERY-"

I turned my head at the sudden sound of my name, not realizing that Lori was screaming because something was behind me. I felt the cold slimy hands gripping my shoulders, pulling me back. I could hear the moaning and smell the rotten flesh, there was a Walker about to take a huge bite out of me.

And that's when I felt the splat of something warm and wet on the back of my neck, I spun around to see the Walker tumbling forwards.

Quickly I stepped out-of-the-way, letting it fall to the ground. My eyes then fell upon my savior, Daryl Dixon.

"Th-thanks." I stammered.

He nodded and then headed off in another direction, ready to kill more of these Walkers. I blinked a few times as I looked around, I could see all the corpses and I knew the group had lost quite a few of their members. The body count was definitely high.

"Avery!"

I looked to my right and saw Bentley sprinting at me, Rick was hot on his heals yelling for Carl and Lori. Once Bentley reached where I had stood he pulled me into a hug, squeezing the shit out of me. I didn't mind though, it was nice to know that we both were okay.

He pulled out of the embrace and looked me over quickly, "Are you alright? Were you bit? Scratched?" His eyes were scanning my body for any sort of injury, he wouldn't find one though. I was perfectly alright.

I shook my head from side to side, "No, I'm fine. I'm okay."

He sighed in relief and I could see his muscles relaxing instantly, "Thank God." He mumbled before pulling me into another embrace, holding me just as tightly as before.

My eyes then fell upon Andrea, who was kneeling next to Amy's body. She was covered in a blood, and had a chunk missing from her shoulder. Amy was going to turn, there was no way around it now. Andrea was going to have to put her down either now, or when she wakes up.

I certainly do not envy her situation...

_**Bentley**_

No one could sleep after what had happened here at camp. Every single one of us were piling the geeks in one pile and the dead of our own in another. When dawn came around, I got tired of driving a pickaxe into the heads of our fallen, so I handed over the agonizing job to Daryl. I sought out the comfort of mine and Avery's tent; I needed to clear my head of a few things. The minute I thought about Avery walking in, I heard the crunch of the tent's floor. I knew it was her, so I just kept to what I was doing.

Avery jerked me around to face her, "Can I ask why the hell you're packing our stuff?"

"We're leaving." I grabbed the rifle Rick gave me, which I claimed as my own now, and slung its strap over my shoulder, "Finish packing your things since you're in here."

"I thought you were the one that wanted to stay here?" She was obviously ignoring my orders, "We can't just up and leave everyone. They need us more than ever now. I say we're staying."

"You better listen to me, Avery. I'm the oldest and whatever I say goes, got it?"

She landed a clean smack to my face, "How dare you pull that on me! People have died Bentley. Rick and them are going to need us since over half the camp is gone."

I was trying so hard to hold back my emotions, "I'm seeing crystal clear now. The end is near for all of us, it's inevitable. It took mom, Uncle Kenny, and only God knows how many other people we loved."

"Bentley..."

My eyes started to water, "I shouldn't have gone on that rescue mission. Shane was right, if we had been here, there would have been more of us to fight." Tears were flowing down my face, "If we hadn't shown up when we did, Daryl wouldn't have been able to save you. That would put us in the same boat as...as Andrea. She's out there watching her sister turn dammit!"

"I know you don't want to stay, but you need to listen to me." She pulled me into a tight hug, "People are going to die, there is no way around it. Come help finish moving the bodies, I don't need you turning into a whack job on me."

I knew Avery was right. There was just so much that has happened these last few days, I just needed some time vent. With everything out in the open, my sister and I went back out to the others. I noticed that they started to burn the Walkers, then my eyes drifted over to Andrea, who was still next to Amy's lifeless corpse. Amy could change at any minute, someone had to put her down. Avery and I stood at the campfire

with Shane, Dale, and Lori. Rick walked over to Andrea when we got there. Watching him, we all knew what he was going to tell her. I couldn't believe that she pulled her gun on him when he knelt beside her.

The only thing Rick could to was back away slowly. This is going to be one hell of a long day; everyone is tiring out, there are bodies that need to be burned and buried. There is just so much to do, I'm surprised no one else had a break down. Daryl made his way over to us, "You guys serious? You gonna let that girl hamstring us?" I honestly had no clue what he meant by that. "That dead girl is a time bomb."

Rick wiped sweat from his brow, "What do you suggest?"

"Take the shot." Never have I seen Daryl this serious. I mean, eventually someone would have to shoot Amy if she turned, but since she hadn't yet; maybe it was a good thing. "Clean in the brain, from here. Hell, I could hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

It was about time that I intervened, "No. Let her be for God's sake. That's Andrea's sister, remember?"

Everyone eyed each other, not wanting to agree with my words. Daryl sighed and went back to want he was doing moments ago. It wasn't before long that someone was yelling, "We don't burn them!" What the hell was going on? I turned in the direction it came from, to my surprise, it was Glenn speaking his mind to Daryl and Morales. I see, they wanted to burn one of the dead campers. Why we all agreed to depose of all the bodies differently, I'll never understand. They're all dead basically. I thought we had a moment of quiet, but then Daryl started yelling.

"Ya'll left my brother for dead!" Words couldn't even explain how I felt. "You had this comin'!"

Maybe I spoke a little to soon about not everyone blowing a casket. It wasn't long before we all went back to work. Then it also wasn't long before something else went downhill.

"A Walker got him!" Jacqui shouted. "A Walker bit Jim!"

The entire camp circled Jim. I wasn't too sure if it was out of curiosity or if they were eager to kill him. Daryl was the one to speak up, "Show it to us."

Jim panicked, he flailed in picking up a shovel. T-Dog dashed in from behind and was able to hold him back while Daryl lifted up his shirt. Sure enough, on the left side of his stomach were teeth marks. How come he didn't tell us sooner? The fever could of hit him, then it'd leave us with two dead bodies about to live again. Jim repeated over and over that he was okay. No one believed him, once you're bit, you're bit.

We all discussed what our best option was at this point around the fire.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head." Daryl insisted, "Let's be done with it."

"We can't just go killing him." The words left my mouth before I could think, "He's not dead yet. I say we just give it time."

This is so stressful, as any of us needed this right now. All eyes turned to Dale when he chimed in, "I agree with Daryl."

"Jim's not a monster, Dale." Rick entered the conversation, "He's a sick man. Bentley's right, we wait and see. Once he dies from the sickness, then we can take care of it."

Daryl was getting pretty pissed, "The line is clear. We have zero tolerance for Walkers or for them to be."

Avery put her piece in too, "What if we could get him help? I heard the C.D.C was working on a cure."

"I heard that too, hell, I heard a lotta things before the world went to hell." Shane spoke up.

Avery and Shane went toe-to-toe debating whether the C.D.C was still up and running. I was proud to see my sister like this. It's been a long time since I've seen her care so much about something, let alone someone else, besides me.

"If there was any government or structure left, they'd make sure to protect it with all costs. It's our best shot." Rick backed Avery up.

Shane thought otherwise, "Okay. If they exist, they're at the army base, Fort Benning."

"That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction." Lori put her two-cents in. We really didn't need her going against the idea.

"It'll be away from the hot spot and heavily armed, it's our best shot. We'd be safe there."

At this point, I was losing interest. There were to many people talking, we just needed two people to agree on what to do and the rest of us would follow. The only thing that caught my attention was a commotion.

"Someone needs some damn balls to take care of the problem!" Daryl darted towards Jim with the pickaxe ready to strike.

Rick cocked his gun and held it to Daryl's head, "We don't kill the living."

"That's funny, comin' from a man who just put a gun to my head."

They dispersed in seconds and took Jim somewhere safe. Everyone went about their business. I watched from afar as Carol impaled her husband's head with the pickaxe, over and over. I figured she was letting all of her anger out on his corpse. I would too if someone treated me like shit. Avery came and got me so we could go finish packing our belongings that I hadn't earlier. I never prepared myself for what happened next. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the slightest movement. At first I thought I was Andrea since we had just passed her, but I did a double take out of habit.

I clenched onto Avery's wrist to pull her in close. What I really saw was Andrea talking to her dead sister, who had come back to life.

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Hello everyone ! Hope you enjoyed this chapter ! Let us know what you think so far, we'd love to hear from you !


	6. Chapter 6 Some Explanations

_**Avery**_

Andrea put her gun to Amy's head and then pulled the trigger, ending her sister's life as a Walker in a matter of seconds. The sight caused my stomach to do cartwheels as I jerked my wrist out of Bentley's hold and stormed off.

He just had to get us involved with these fucking people. If he just would have left well enough alone I wouldn't feel so guilty now. I could have saved her, I know I could have. If I just would have paid attention.

What's the point in even trying anymore? I don't see the point in going through all of this over and over. Watching people who I care about die right in front of me. I don't need to keep seeing it. I've seen two of the most important people in my life killed, isn't that enough?

What did I do to deserve this? Sure, I may have been a fucked up reject back before all of this happened but I didn't do anything bad. I never killed anybody or committed a crime. The worst I did was hustle a few guys for money during pool games, but they were shitty ass men anyway.

I had made my way back to our tent, and I started to carelessly shove our belongings into our bags. We were leaving, that was the only way to survive. And if Rick and Shane decide to keep the group here, I'll be the first to say my good-bye's before heading in the other direction.

"Avery will you stop fucking walking away from me like that." Bentley muttered as he gripped my forearm tightly, preventing me from shoving a first aid kit into my forest green backpack.

I whipped around to face him, shoving him back a bit so he wasn't holding me anymore. "I don't want to talk about it right now. We just need to pack our shit and go, Bentley." I snapped angrily.

He pressed his lips into a firm line as he narrowed his green eyes at me, he was aggravated and I don't blame him. I was acting out of anger, and that always pissed him off. But he needs to get the hell over it because our lives are at risk here.

"Where the fuck is your head at, Vree? Not even ten minutes ago you smacked me because I wanted to go, now you want to leave? You can't do that!" Bentley shouted, his face tinging a shade of red.

I clenched my hands into fists and took a deep, calming, breath. "I'm not changing my mind. We're going to the CDC, with or without this group."

"Who put you in charge of what we do?!"

"YOU DID! WHEN YOU GOT MY FUCKING EMOTIONS INVOLVED BENTLEY! YOU CAN'T JUST EXPECT ME TO COME HERE AND NOT CARE WHEN I SEE THESE PEOPLE DIE! THIS IS YOUR FAULT, NOW SHUT UP AND FINISH PACKING!" I screamed as I kicked my bag that had laid before my feet.

I couldn't stop the angry tears that were falling from my eyes as I shoved past him and started walking away from the tent. I needed to clear my head, I needed to fucking impale some Walker heads so I can get this frustration out.

My feet carried me to where Daryl was struggling to carry a body over to the burning pile, out of pure instinct I walked over to him and grabbed the other side of the body. He glanced at me and scoffed, "I got this."

I rolled my eyes and let out an amused chuckle, "Clearly."

We tossed the body into the pile, and I wiped the palms of my hands on my jeans. The heat was insane today, and I was sweating like a hooker in a church. I'm sick and tired of not having AC. I miss it more than anything.

"I never did get yer name." Daryl's voice was taking a rude tone, whether he actually meant to sound rude or not I have no clue.

I shrugged, "You never asked."

Again he scoffed, "Don't tell me then."

"It's Avery."

He glanced at me before nodding once and then walking off towards another clump of bodies that needed to be impaled or burned. I pushed my bangs out of my face and tried to think of what to do with myself, the heat was getting to me and I just needed to calm down.

I eventually made my way over to Dale, I don't see Andrea anywhere and I am curious about how she is holding up. Having to put your sister down can not be an easy thing, and I would hate for her to be going all suicidal on us.

When Dale saw me approaching him, a small smile made it's way onto his face. "Hello Avery." He greeted me genuinely.

I smiled back, "How's Andrea holding up?"

He sighed and looked down at the ground, "She's handling it her own way. How are you holding up? After the incident last night?" He changed the subject to me, which I found odd.

Never has anyone ever asked me how I am after dealing with anything remotely dangerous or traumatizing. Bentley has, but he doesn't really count. He's family. It was weird to have someone ask me how I'm dealing with things for once.

I shrugged, "Fine I guess. Just a little confused, but I'm alright."

"The CDC, sounds like a good idea." He added, trying to cheer me up I suppose.

I nodded once, "Yeah, my Uncle Kenny used to talk about it all the time. That's why Bentley and I were making our way through Atlanta. I figured we would find it eventually."

"We're burying our dead, are you going to join us?" He asked, completely changing the topic once again.

Immediately I shook my head from side to side, "No. Trust me, you don't want me there. I'll help pack everyone's stuff while you all... mourn or whatnot. Save some time."

Dale sighed, but nodded in understanding and then he walked off, leaving me to stand by the RV. I could hear Jim inside mumbling things and it freaked me out. When we discovered he was bit a huge argument of what we should do without him broke out, eventually it was decided to house him in the RV until he changed. Apparently, killing the living was forbidden.

Daryl seems to be the only one with some sense in this group. You can't just leave someone who is bit and bound to change into a Walker at any second hidden in an RV. It's putting everyone at risk. I was more than tempted to go in that RV now and put Jim out of his damn misery... but thought better of it.

Images of my Uncle Kenny in mid-transition into being a Walker appeared in my mind, and it brought a wave of grief and guilt along with it. I could have saved him, I know that for sure. If I just wouldn't have been a bitch and storming away from him he wouldn't have gotten attacked...

**_Flashback_**

"You have no idea what the fuck you're talking about. Just leave me alone." I muttered as I maneuvered through the dense brush of the part of the woods that I was trying to get through.

My Uncle sighed as he followed behind me, "Avery, I know that you think she thinks little of you-"

I whipped my head around to face him, glaring at him angrily, "I don't think that, I know that. She doesn't trust me, I'm her own daughter for Christs' sake and she just writes me off like I'm some stranger!"

He shook his head from side to side slowly, "She's just worried that you'll get hurt. You and Bentley mean the world to her."

I let out a bitter laugh, "She's got a funny way of showing it." I muttered. I turned back around and continued may way back to our camp. The woods were a terrible idea, it all looks the same and we could be lost. I have no sense of direction whatsoever.

My mother is an idiot. Not allowing me to make a run with Bentley because she thinks I'm incapable of covering his ass while he get's what supplies we need. I'm more than capable. I'm a better shot than Bentley is, yet I can't be 'trusted with his life'.

My anger had propelled me to moving a lot faster than my Uncle, because I couldn't hear him walking behind me anymore. Good. I need some alone time to clear my head anyway. I can't be around people when I'm angry, it just causes more problems and I'm sick and tired of arguing

all the time.

After about five minutes of silence I turned around to see how far behind he was, when my eyes scanned the area around me though, they couldn't find him. Where did he go? He was just behind me? Well, he had been behind me.

"Uncle Kenny?" I called out as I backtracked, heading back in the direction I had just came from. I know he was behind me five minutes ago.

And that's when I heard the scream, it was an odd sounding scream. My ears had never heard a man scream before, but that had to be what it was. Who was screaming? Then it clicked that it was my Uncle Kenny screaming.

I bolted towards the sound, pulling my gun from my waistband of my jeans. I skidded to a stop in the dirt when I saw a Walker gnawing on his shoulder. I didn't hesitate to take the shot, hitting the Walker right between it's eyes. The blood splattered on Kenny's face, and he fell back to the ground.

"NO! NO NO NO!"

I stumbled over to him, holding him tightly. He was wheezing and trying to say something, but I couldn't understand him. His blood was pouring out of the wound all over my clothes, covering me from my chest to my thighs.

My head was shaking from side to side violently as the tears sprung from my eyes, pouring down my face. "You can't die! No you can't leave!" I shouted at him, we can't do this without him. We can't survive without him!

He started to choke on his own blood, his brown eyes meeting mine. I clenched my jaw shut as I held back the scream that wanted to escape me. The gunshot was loud enough, bound to pull in Walkers, if I screamed it would only make matters worse for myself.

"I'm so sorry." I said quietly, putting the gun to his temple. I had to do it, I have no choice. He is going to die and then he is going to turn.

There's no point in making him suffer longer, I just need to end it.

I pulled the trigger, the loud sound from the gun echoed in the woods. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, preventing more tears from falling down my face. I need to get up and get back to camp.

How am I going to explain this to Bentley and my mother? I was the reason that my Uncle died. I killed him.

_End of Flashback_

**_Bentley_**

I honestly have no idea what's wrong with Avery. After Dale walked away, she just stood by the R.V. There was definitely something more going on inside that head of hers; it was best if I let her sort it out on her own. Since it was almost time for us to bury the dead, I figured that would help me keep my distance from Avery for a while. Daryl drove the truck up with the bodies while everyone else trudged behind. I didn't feel right being there, so I just stood by the truck and watched them talk things out.

Once the bodies were in the ground, Andrea struggled to put Amy's body in the ground. Dale bent down to help, but she insisted she did it herself. It was heartbreaking to watch; I would be doing the same thing if Daryl hadn't of saved Avery. I really need to remember to thank him after things settle down. I looked back over the ravine and could make out Avery lounging by the fire. My big brother instincts kicked in, so I made my way back to camp before everyone else.

I took the seat next to her, "Wanna tell me what's on your mind?"

She never looked at me, "It's nothing."

"Come on, Vree. I know you." I hope I was getting through to her, "Forget about everything. It's just you and me, brother and sister."

Her right eyebrow twitched, "About what you said, the end is near for all of us? Well, with that and seeing Andrea put a bullet in Amy's head, it reminded me of Uncle Kenny."

I rubbed her back to show I cared, "Yeah. It's all in the past now. Let's keep one foot in front of the other and move forward. It's all we can do."

It pained me to see her lip quiver. I've only seen that happen twice: when our father left us and the death of our uncle. I pulled her in for a big hug and let her cry it out. I was about to comfort her even more, but Rick approached us and asked if I would tag along with him and Shane on their sweep. Avery elbowed me to get up and go with them, I didn't want to leave her, but she seemed to be fine. I held my rifle in both hands as the three of us walked off into the woods.

"Tell you what man," Shane's monotone voice entered my ears, "These people. They aren't convinced. You know, get to the C.D.C, you might be on your own. You gotta consider where you put Lori and Carl " He was obviously talking to Rick.

"I gotta do what's best for my family."

"Like what? Expose them to all kinds of risks?"

I wanted to say what was on my mind, "If you haven't forgotten, Avery and I plan on going there too. We'll be there if they or any of you guys need back up."

Oh boy, that really ticked Shane off. He stepped right up to me and clocked me square in the face. I fell to the ground holding my face, thank God nothing was bleeding or broken; at the least, I'll have a good sized bruise. Rick held Shane back from doing any further harm to me.

"I don't see where you get off thinkin' you're going with us!" Shane spat at me.

Rick shoved him back, "Shane, that's enough! Him and Avery both earned their spots in the group. Besides, we'll be crossing thousands of miles of hostile territory. They'll be good additions after what happened."

No one would understand how happy I was to hear Rick say we we're apart of their group. I dusted myself off when I got up. My rifle skidded a few feet away, making me walk down an incline to retrieve it. I overheard Rick and Shane arguing over something, but I figured it was best if I stayed out of it. Shane's tone didn't sound to happy, whatever they were discussing, I got the feeling it had to do with Lori and Carl.

Something snapped in the distance that put us on high alert. Shane went one way while Rick and I went another. Our guns were aimed and ready to fire. I made sure that we walked back-to-back to cover all angles; I didn't want a Walker to get the jump on us. I didn't see anything moving in the brush. Shane called for us and we headed back to the camp. Everyone was sitting around the fire when we returned. I was glad to see Avery still in her seat; it was about time she started to socialize more.

I stood behind Avery as Shane explained what our next step was, "I've been thinking about Avery and Rick's plan. Look, there are no guarantees, either way, I'll be the first one to admit that." All of our eyes were glued on him, "I've known this man a long time, I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing is that we work together. Those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning."

I let out a long sigh. I whistled for Avery to come to the tent so we could finish packing the few things that the both of us forgotten during our meltdowns. I made sure that my bat was in my backpack and the rifle was by the opening so I could grab it in the morning. Avery finished packing within a matter of minutes. The dark sky indicated that it was getting late, so I went to tell everyone good night for the both of us.

Laying down, I found it hard to fall asleep, Avery on the other hand, was out like a light. I closed my eyes thinking about the long road ahead and soon after, I drifted into a deep sleep.

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sorry for the loooooong wait ! anyone else watch the finale last night ?! gah , i cried like a baby when milton and andrea died ! -sasha


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